Kittybeard
by Moosashi
Summary: Malevolent. Overwhelming. Lord. A threat to the world over, a scourge that wrought calamity and damnation to all, that sought to hold annihilation and the world together in an iron grip. A chaotic existence that would, in time, become one with a god. His name...? KITTYBEARD.


A.N. Wanted to write something dark. Something…tragic, heart-wrenching, and perhaps slightly unnerving.

Yep. That's what I wanted to write. Then this happened.

* * *

A malevolent claw deflected and sent flying the ritual sword, owner of which gritted his teeth and stumbled back. It was his only course of defense left. Those few steps carried him, put much needed distance in mere inches between him and the snarling lion man. Ends of the claw curled like hooks and down it came for a surely mortal blow.

Sorey snapped his eyes shut.

…

"Damn it, Sorey. I thought you weren't just another stupid human!"

Balance regained, he opened his eyes and immediately they widened in horror.

The wall between him and certain death was a girl just over half his size. Blonde continued to blow wildly in the resounding _boom_ from their clash, claw gripping around and warping the closed umbrella. Hooks seemed to become fangs, ones that sank further into her hands and spread a violet venom into her. His voice cracked. "E-Edna!"

Heldalf's grin slithered up one cheek. "Well, well. What a brave act from one so small." It had to be nothing more than the overwhelming aura and force bearing down on her—indeed, it had to be nothing more that caused the earth seraph's eye to twitch. "Commendable effort to protect your Shepherd, little one." And twitch again. "But I do wonder, just how long can you hold out?" The umbrella snapped, crushed into threes that escaped her grasp and down onto her came the claw that she braced against with both hands. "And how long," he drew near her, enough that his rotten breath crept down her neck, "until the Shepherd loses himself at the demise of his only remaining ally!"

Edna knew it was a load of crap, just like his breath had to be. Lailah and Mikleo were down but alive, and Zaveid was doing more than enough to keep Symonne fighting for dear life. She could see her stumbling to avoid a pendulum that preluded his flying kick which cratered and cracked the earth all around—her clambering out of said crater in a battle against tumbling shattered ground.

The Shepherd's voice reeled her in: "Edna, get away from him!"

She bit her lip. "Like I could do that!" Despite his brave act, he was on one knee of which above was a thigh doused red. Torn fabric made visible the grisly wound, made it glint in all its redness and twistedness of maimed tissues and muscle. And the arm that he gripped might have been even worse, the entirety of his blue sleeve from the shoulder down soaked through with a crimson violet.

The snarl across Heldalf's face broadened, encompassed his features, made shine with wickedness eyes of which pupils were mere slits ablaze in their fiery irises—an all-seeing gaze that wrenched truths from the deepest confines of the soul. That _truth_ rolled off his tongue, "…You're scared," and his laughter followed in a low rumble. His aura crept towards her, circled her like a pack of hungry wolves. "Watch now, Shepherd—!"

"Edna!"

"—and fall into the clutches of despair as I pry the life from your beloved seraph!"

The black flames raged around her and seared her skin. Edges of her dress turned black, the darkness crawling up the fabric and leaving in its wake dissipating ashes of once stark white. Arms outstretched trembled against his strength, and though she stood resolute, she could not hold in the scream as her porcelain skin cracked beneath the encroaching venomous aura shooting up her arms. They felt heavy, cold, like the earth she was so used to commanding—and just as brittle, as if at any moment they'd crumble.

The low rumble of his laughter grew to a deafening landslide. "Yes, yes! Scream, and let fall the bravery you showed! The foolishness you acted upon, little earth seraph!"

Sorey rose, staggered forward, and then fell. Unable to brace himself from a harsh landing, he could only plant his chin to the ground and watch through strained and blurring eyes as she…

He snapped shut his eyes.

In the blackness he saw a crumpled form. White dress tarnished, skin sweltered and seared and red, red, red; blonde bangs clumped against a face at peace. And from all a trail of glitter, each speck taking a bit of the vividness she'd been so full of in life.

…

"Ugh!" And yet she still fought. "Even for an evil overlord, you're so darn annoying, you stupid Kittybeard!"

"K-Kit—?!" Flames across the battlefield died in a pathetic frizzling whimper and _pop_. Heldalf blinked. "K-Kittybeard?!" He whirled over his shoulder at a mocking feminine chuckle. "Symonne, did you just—?!" She'd stopped for only a moment, hand over mouth and eyes averting his stare of utter disbelief—a stare of disbelief that further widened at the flying kick whiplashing her neck around before sending her into a high-speed skid across the razed land left in her wake, chunks of debris the size of boulders sent airborne and a trench birthed through all of it. It was like some crap straight from a story of superhuman space warriors who could each destroy planets with but a whim. And Zaveid wasn't even finished, kicking straight off the ground to follow after her in what looked like a here-one-second, gone-the-next kind of teleport that blew thrashing winds outward in a sonic boom.

Heldalf returned attention forthright and stumbled back at the sight of a sword tip in his face. The Shepherd stood shakily with his other arm around the earth seraph. Two sets of wobbly legs. His gave out and to his knees he fell, her collapsing over and against his shoulder and side.

Heldalf stepped back again, hand stroking his beard. "Kitty…" and stroking it more, "…beard." His eyes widened and he roared as his flaming hand whisked over his face. Cinders of orange hair specked the air, incinerating as purple embers around them imploded in on themselves and vanished without a trace. The beard was gone, a broad and defined chin revealed to the world. "What now, little one?"

Edna's head rolled against the Shepherd's chest to face him. A smirk on her feverish face, a smirk intricately complemented by half-lidded eyes and tilting up of chin. "Oh-ho? From lion to Siamese? That's quite the downgrade."

"Impudence!" Flames erupted around the Lord of Calamity. He raised a clenched fist and leaned close. The Shepherd mirrored the glare. "I should end you right now." He pulled away. "But no. I'll show restrain, _mercy_ , if you will. And when you've become the world's hope, I'll bring those hopes crashing down and…!" slit eyes dilated as they flicked to the head of blonde, "…stamp out that smarmy mouth of yours." He whirled around. "Symmone, we're leaving!" His gaze panned one way: nothing; his gaze panned the other way: nothing. A high-pitched screech drew his attention to—

It was levitating. The nearby mountain peak was levitating up from where it once rested, cut cleanly through. He leaned forward, brows furrowing as head tilted. A hundred lashes was what sounded to come next, the peak suddenly riddled with cracks that had it breaking apart before a hurricane blew through and eroded it to nothingness in a matter of seconds.

"L-Lord! My Lord!" He turned to see a battered Symonne stumbling towards him, and beyond her a phantom menace with wild grin distorted in its vanishing and reappearing exponentially closer every time. She grabbed onto him and he lifted his hand and a dark veil wrapped around them before blinking from sight. A pendulum crashed down to where they once stood, chipping away at the ground and then severing it entirely, enormous crack extending jaggedly out from the point of impact and running up into a rocky column and crumbling it to bits—and the hill behind it.

Zaveid clicked his tongue, a completely inaudible action like his words as the column and hill continued to collapse. "Got away…"

Sorey held tight both the trembling ground and the earth seraph. With the last of the hillside collapsing inward and final bellow of dust, things calmed and he looked to her. "Are you all right?"

"…Peachy," she murmured through a groan. She cleared her throat and fidgeted. "I get that this must be satisfying, but you can let go now."

He jolted, cringed at the flaring it brought to his shoulder and leg, and loosened his hold. "Ah, right. As long as you're okay."

And just over yonder…

"…You've _got to be_ kidding me…" Mikleo pushed off the ground and shook clear his head, just to make sure it all wasn't a bad dream. "Did Edna's terrible humor really just save us?" A bad dream of which nearly dying had nothing to do with, because, "Dying would have been better than this." His palm slipped on loose dirt. Lithe robed arms caught him before he hit flat on his face.

"Come now, don't say that." Lailah tried to pull him up, but her own fatigue had them both collapsing and he hit his face anyways. He turned her way, irritation and deadpan and zilch amusement strewn ear-to-ear, of which she returned with a cheery smile. "Oh boy, I'm pooped! She really saved us back there." His eye twitched.

Edna's voice came weakly: "I expect…no more quips on my choice of humor."

As did Rose's while the wind seraph helped her up, albeit with a certain astonishment. "I'm more surprised that _they're_ alive." Her gaze around the battlefield spanning a good portion of Aifread's Hunting Grounds was joined by the others. The giant trench? Only the start of things. A handful of craters in varying widths and depths, toppled trees either snapped or cut clean through, bits of hills and rocky outcrops absolutely demolished—some even so perfectly that it looked like someone literally took a scoop out of them—destroyed landmarks, ruined ruins, massacred wildlife—and hellions—cracked ground that looked akin to shattered glass, rooted vegetation, turned-over boulders, and piles upon piles of debris scattered in every direction. She let her head roll into the crook of Zaveid's neck as she sighed. "How the hell did we ever beat this guy?"

Zaveid's laughter rang high. "Aw come-on! I had a bone to pick with the babe!"

"Please drop the one you're picking with my brother," Edna let out. "I'm concerned for his safety."

"Youch!" He rolled a shoulder, grin present but laughter fading. "Guys are making me out to be some kind of monster!"

Rose pushed off him and steadied. "Well, the Lord of Calamity was sent packing by Edna's words. Meanwhile you were looking ready to blow this place to smithereens over a little girl. What were you planning to do if you caught her?"

He knocked her hands off him. "Hey." His grin, laughter, expression—everything had become stoic. "She's not a Hellion, and I'm sure as hell not about to let my friend's death go unanswered." He brushed past her. "I think you can put two-and-two together." The wind stilled.

Sorey sprawled out. Hisses, groans, and grunts of pain jumbled together as his limbs extended. Vision remained blurred, edges of which were starting to blacken, but despite it all, he chuckled. "The Lord of Calamity's a pretty sensitive guy, huh?"

Edna fell flat beside him, chest rising and falling in a deep breath. She folded her hands atop her midriff. "The Lord of Sensitivity. I guess you'd have to be to fall as low as he has."

"It's a shame that we need a new nickname. I liked Kittybeard."

"My thoughts exactly."

Mikleo had managed to stumble over. "Sorey, don't match her pace. She'll sting you when you least expect it."

She bumped a fist to the ground and up from beneath the water seraph's foot rose a chunk of earth, sending him flat on his face. Again. "Humph."

"Sorey," Rose called as she fell to her rear beside him. Her hand went to her knee and she continued to catch the breath that'd left her during the fight. "You're bleeding to death. Please stop laughing."

"Huh?" Quite perplexed, he was. And then, "O-oh…oh…." before his head rolled to the side and his eyes shut.

Rose blinked. "Sorey?" She slapped his cheek. "Hey, Sorey!" Slapped both cheeks. "Sorey! Gah, Lailah, Sorey's dead! What do we do?!"

"What?! Ah, M-Mikleo, healing, now! Mikleo, hurry!"

Edna drew a sigh. There was something to be said. Something referring to their bumbling antics and inability to assess the situation and act accordingly. Something that was an insult, a jibe, and quite unpleasant of a label. Something that surely would have come from her…had she not also passed out.

And Rose was slapping the earth seraph's cheeks now. "And Edna too!"

Blue light enveloped the Shepherd as Mikleo held himself up with his staff. "I think we can just leave that one be." He sounded so certain.

" _Mikleo!_ " Lailah didn't.

His sigh came drawn and disgusted. " _Fine_ ~…"

* * *

A.N. No, I don't hate Symonne. On the contrary, I think her character is unique and would have loved to see it portrayed better in the game and anime. That said…

Zaveid is just a beast. I've always felt that he seemed underpowered every time you fought him in the game. So here we have him in DBZ-esque mode chasing down and forever scarring mentally poor little Symonne. Heh. I have no idea why I wrote his strength this way, but it was darn fun to do so!

As for Heldalf, he's basically like a Ganondorf in my book. Which makes him a spectacular villain, despite some shallowness. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to talk to anyone in the game besides Sorey. There are times where others say stuff to him, and that time he shoots down Rose, but for the seraphs…nothing. Of course, I could just be super forgetful. Either way, I'd like to think even he would be unnerved by the jibes of Edna—especially for the name she's granted him.

Ha. He should be honored that divine lady Edna put such thought and time into bestowing upon him a nickname.

Anywho, hope you enjoyed!


End file.
